Blood Stains on the Grass
by tealywrites
Summary: It's that time again. This year, the 75th Hunger Games promises no weapons.  Katniss and Gale are reaped... but how do they plan on surviving?  Together? Or do they have very different ideas on who deserves to win?
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: Me owns nothink. Rightty? All praise Suzanne Collins :)**

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><p><span>Prologue<span>

Slowly spinning in a circle on my metal plate, I take in my surroundings. Trees. A small pool of water lying right next to the Cornicopia. Of course, just as the Quarter Quell promised, the opening of the famous gold horn is bare, leaving us tributes entirely alone. I nod to Gale, my brother in some ways; most definitely my only true friend. At least- until the reaping. This year, as the 75th Hunger Games began, Gale and I were announced to be the District 12 tributes.

My thoughts then flicker to an image of my sister, Prim. She is silently crying during one of her lessons in school. Nobody comforts her, stands there with her and whispers how everything is going to be okay, no-one strokes her hair as her tears slip down her face, like i would. But everyone stares at her, with sorrow in their eyes. Her classmates take pity on her: the broken record. Everyone but Prim has already accepted my death.

Another image flashes into my mind, one of Gale's family. With Gale not likely to be able to supply them with food ever again, they are slowly starving. I see his younger sister clutching her stomach; Gale's mom looking as pale as a ghost. But still, she must support her dying family to the best of her ability, so she must venture outside into hell itself. District 12.

I blink and my mind races back to the present. My eyes meet Gale's for a second, and for just that one moment I can feel his emotions welling inside of me. His eyes radiate terror, yet his body shows confidence. Which, I guess is a good thing here. "You'll never get any sponsors if you're a wreck, Katniss!" The words from Haymitch repeat again and again in my head. I am the girl who was on fire. And I_ will_ win the 75th Hunger Games.

And with that: The gong sounds and the noise rings in my ears…

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><p><strong>Ohhhhh...the suspense. Want to see what happens now? Well, review if you must. <strong>

**Megs**


	2. Chapter One

**Hey, i'm back! This is the second EVER CHAPTER that i've written for a site, and i hope you like it. I tryed to add more detail- but, hay-ho, it might not be up to standards.**

**DISCLAIMER: SUZANNE COLLINS' STORY. Got it?  
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><p>Without thinking, I sprint off my metal plate, launching myself towards the water and splashing my face with the cool, clear liquid. Hearing footsteps gaining on me, I turn around and punch my attacker square in the jaw, screaming out in pain as my knuckles connect to bone. I pull my hand into my chest, and for the first time I take in my attacker's features. Dark hair, muscular, tall and handsome, with grey eyes and olive skin…<p>

"Gale!"

He wipes away the blood dripping out of his mouth, and gives me a slow, uncertain smile,

"Gee, Catnip. It didn't take you long to turn lethal," he jokes. I look shocked and wrap him in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry! I thought you were one of _them_," I point my chin to the Careers, just as the last of them dissapear into the forest.

He nods, as if to say, _I understand, Katniss. I'm fine_. I pull away from him and start towards the opposite end of the arena to where the Careers went to set up some sort of place to stay, no doubt.

"Let's go before one of us is turned into dinner," I say, my voice quivering with fear. The realisation only _just _hit me that I would be staying here for- a very, very long time. Maybe. _If_ i'm not dead by then.

Over the last couple of years of the Hunger Games, Seneca Crane decided that things ought to hot up. Viewers in the Capitol were getting bored of the same tricks being played again and again; some even stopped watching the games. Apparently they had other, _more important_ things to be doing than following the final moments of 23 tributes, and the breakdown of the winning tribute. So the old unspoken rule of "no cannibalism" was revoked. Just thinking of my family at home, watching me die...then being eaten by a teenager _my age_ makes me feel sick. I won't let this happen.

We walk into the trees, and stay there for what seems to be 5-6 hours. We get up, and walk hand in hand. As Gale and I hike across the arena, we can already see the remains of the intial bloodbath. But this year: it's different. I remember sitting at home with my family and watching as tributes slashed at each other with knives and axes. I recall exactly how deep the knives sunk into the chest of one unfortunate tribute, I remember hearing them scream out in pain; then fall silent. The difference to what I saw on the television ever since I was tiny, and what I see now is appalling.

This tribute has her chest torn open, and she lays in a pool of her own blood. With no weapons this year, this tribute has been...i swallow the thought, but my eyes cannot seem to look away from this girl, who looks barely 14.

"She's been...torn apart- with..."

I finish Gale's unsteady sentence: "Fingernails, Gale. No weapons, we only have what our own body supplies for us. My guess is that she's been torn apart by teeth...or fingernails."

I stumble away from the horror before me and retch up a foul green substance onto the grass, wiping my mouth clean with the back of my hand, I get up, spitting onto the floor repeatidly, trying to rid the bitter taste of vomit out of my throat. My eyes adjust to see Gale reacting in exactly the same way as me, his eyes meeting mine as he wipes his mouth and spits onto the grass- which is dyed scarlet. The brutality of the Hunger Games once again hits me like a bullet.

I divert my eyes away from the bare bodies laying peacefully on the ground, and force myself further away from the Cornicopia, taking Gale with me.

Just as we can no longer see a trace of red under our feet, we hear approaching footsteps. I swiftly turn around and find myself face to face with the devil itself...

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><p><strong>So? What'd you think? Who could possibly be the devil?<strong>

**Might take a while for another update. Just gonna say that i'm not sorry. I'll be having a great time somewhere :P**

**Review/Add to suncriptions.**

**Hell, you can do whatever you want with your life.**

**Megs**


	3. Chapter Two

**Yeah, i know it's been a while since I updated. And like i said, IM NOT SORRY! But- school's finished now so i gots myself loadsa spare time (like 6 weeks).**

**I'm going on holiday this friday for two weeks, so don't go complain on me. I warned you.**

**AND- i've got myself a facebook page:**  
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**www. facebook .com/pages/TealyWrites/218885428148931**

**So, now you have two different ways to stalk me :)**

**Anyway, on with the story**

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><p><em>2 weeks later<em>

I slowly stumble across the pale green grass, watching my feet brush against blood with every footstep. _He saved me._ And i had just left him there: to rot away with every other corpse. A wave of shame flows through my body like wildfire.

_The District 4 tribute grinned at me, displaying her set of sharp, bloodstained teeth. Her coal coloured eyes seemed to shimmer; she was beautiful. Her blonde hair lied in waves along her shoulders and her long fingernails were caked with the fresh blood of a tribute. Killer. This was the murderer._

_She slashed her hand out toward me, her perfect talons scraping away at the skin on my cheek. A slow trickle of blood worked its way down my face, finally dripping onto my shirt, and settling there. The smell of my blood seemed to trigger the monster within her, as she pounced ontop of me, clawing at my neck. I scream out._

_Gale gripped onto the back of the Career's shirt and pryed her off of me, Gale settles the girl's feet onto the ground and tenses his hands, pulling each of them into fists. When the girl successfully punches Gale's gaw, he spits blood and hits her right back in her chest. She cringes and holds her chest protectively. I struggle to get to my feet and i sneek up behind the girl; just as she is about to throw another punch, I grab a chunk of her hair and pull her backwards, kicking and screaming._

_She spins and faces me, her face now transformed from beauty to devil. She bares her teeth and screeches as she launches towards me. I think: I am ready. I am ready to die. __I shut my eyes and wait for impact._

I wipe away a stray tear that runs down my face, and i bend down to pick some berries from a plant in the forest. I then sit down with my back against the bark and eat.

_I hear a scream as Gale kicks the girl in the side, and my eyes fly open. The feral look in the Career's eyes scares me, and makes me back away from her. Only then do I realise how big of a mistake I just made._

_The Career attacks Gale._

_Gale goes down._

_The Career scrambles ontop of Gale and leans right up close to his face. He is scared. He is so very scared. _

_The Career plants a kiss ontop Gale's lips and pulls back._

_Gale screeches at me, "Run Katniss! Run! You must get out alive!"_

_"I'm not leaving you Gale!"_

_"Go! Please just-" and the Career sinks her teeth into his shoulder, and rips a chunk of his flesh clean off._

_I run._

He is gone. Gale is dead because of me. The blood drained out of him faster then he could ever drain a bottle of water on a boiling hot day. The man I love is dead. All because I just stood there _and stared._

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><p><strong>Hey, so i hope you like this chapter. I didn't want to leave it on a cliffy as i won't be able to update for ages!<strong>

**Thanks for all of those love-er-ly reviews :)**

**Review/favorite/subscribe**

**Meg**

**xx  
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	4. Chapter Three

**Hey guys,**

**So this is my second time of writing this chapter, because I wasn't happy with the idea that Peeta came into the story.  
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**Even though Peeta is freaking cool, he just doesn't have a place in this story.  
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**And what I wrote before... well, it sucked balls.  
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**So I re-wrote it, and I'm much happier now!  
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**Apologies to those who like the old stuff, but things change.  
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**You have to learn to move on :')**

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><p>I have her name. Aeyr Wyllows. Her face was in the sky last night; Ayer is dead. She was just 12 years of age... The more I recall her face, the more I think of her resembeling Prim.<p>

She had a cute, heart-shaped face, and a petit, round, button nose... that could've easily been my sister within a few days of the arena, once her survival instincts had kicked in, of course. But this girl: Aeyr was, and had been driven crazy at the hand of the Capitol. Her family now weeps at her loss. A family that was just as real as my own, that had the same traditions of sharing their meals around one table, a family which had a cat much like Buttercup.

But karma has come out to play, and now _she_ has truly paid for what she did to Gale.

Karma always plays fairly.

Just as I reach the end of the forest, light finally reaches my eyes. I know for certain that this isn't the Capitol's weak excuse of 'light', but the true and honest weather. This light is too pure; _too real_ to mistake for the Capitol's creation. This is a sign of hope.

The light bounces off the pool of shimmering water, reflecting off the surface in all different heavenly colours. It is all I can do not to run to the edge of the lake and enrich my skin with the refreshing liquid. I cup handfuls of the stuff and force them down my throat, panting as the water spreads delicious flavour onto my tongue. I have only just realised how truly thirsty I am.

Just as soon as my need for water has vanished, my stomach rumbles. Food! I haven't eaten in hours!

I get up from my crouching position beside the water and rush back over to the forest, stripping the first few trees of their bark and shoving the scraps into my pocket. I limit my meal to only three measely scraps, due to the fact that I have absolutely no idea when I shall eat again.

This thought, along with a string of other, less pleasant ones, force themselves into my brain, almost as if they are incrypted on the inside of my skull. This thought scares me most: the thought that I am never to escape the Games, even if I am fortunate enough to win. The thought that the Capitol will always control my actions, my future; my _life_, is enough to make me want to die in the Games.

But my family back home in The Seam is enough to make me fight.

The light begins to dim in the arena, the first sign that night is soon to fall, the second being the constant sounds of the owls calling and answering to one another. With the light, my hopes of winning the Games dwindle and falter as a low hum of voices approaches the area of which I hide.

The Careers have found me.

I drop the bark I have been chewing on and make a break for shelter, or anywhere to hide myself from any number of eyes. I settle for a small shrub behind a nearby tree, and duck behind it, until I am certain that I cannot be seen in plain sight.

The voices get clearer as the Careers get closer, and I can make out only 3 seperate voices.

I hold my breath.

The deeper voices seem to be arguing with the lighter, higher pitched voice, about what: I don't know. I clamp my hand over my mouth and take a few calming breaths through my nostrils.

The Careers advance to beside the shrub, and I whimper. Loudly.

_Crap_, I think.

'I saw her a second ago! I swear, Denwood! She was right here!' the female's voice fills with worry and confusion, and I hear a slap where palm meets cheek, closely followed by a scream of agony; then a menacing laugh.

The low, monotonous voice speaks next, the one I assume to be Denwood. He whispers a string of highly offensive curse words and aims them all at the female. Exactly what you would expect from a District 2 volunteer.

I remember watching his reaping.

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><p><em>Gale and I were settled on the metallic train's couch and Effie Trinket rushed into the carriage and bleeped on the television screen.<em>

_District 1: a small, young and undoubtedly cute girl was called. In training, everyone towered over her; she was shy and made no effort for conversation. She was underestimated._

_That girl, Clanesh, I'm sure her name was, bagged a 9 in the private sessions. Turns out she can kill any living being in more than 36 ways. Without weapons._

_The District 1 male seemed every bit as typical as every other Career male ever entered into the Arena. He volunteered as soon as the paper was drawn, and he mounted the stage with a proud smile plastered all over his face. His hair, dark. His eyes, dark. His skin tone, dark. Basically, he reeked 'victor'._

_Again, typically this 17 year old boy from 1 gained an 8 on his private session. And I'm pretty sure all he had to do to get that score was take his shirt off._

_After all, the Capitol audience **love** a good show._

_Ask Finnick Odair, a victor from about 10 years back. He's rumoured to be able to work through 4 or so 'fans' each time he visits the Capitol._

_The broadcasted show then cut straight to 2, where a large man with skin enhanced to look scaly, like a snake's, stood. He dampened his lips with his tongue, which had been cut down the middle: exactly like a snake's._

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><p>I smile to myself slightly, despite my surroundings.<p>

Because I remember what happened next.

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><p><em>I turned to Gale, finding his eyes already hooked on mine, we both make faces as we say at the same time, 'Snake Man!', then burst out laughing simultaneously.<em>

_'Snake Man' drew his hand out from his jacket pocket and plunged it deep into the bowl of the paper names. It resurfaces from the paper sea, and he clears his throat with one, quick cough. The microphone echoes the name 'Cranberry Breech' throughout the clearing, and a wicked looking girl with her eyebrows raised steps out to stop the depressed 12 year old from taking the stage._

_The older girl shouts 'I volunteer!' and Cranberry fades back into the crowd._

_The volunteer rushes to the microphone and grips it in her hands._

_'My name is Bess Moiva. And I promise you-' she stretches out a hand and points to one face in the crowd before her '- that I will win the 75th Hunger Games!' She ends by placing her hands into fists and pumping the air triumphantly while the audience screams for her._

_It took a long while for the shouts to die down to a barely audible hum, and even longer for Snake Man to regain soul ownership of the microphone. Before long, the next name is reaped, the next volunteer shouts for attention and the volunteer mounts the steps._

_Denwood Minkton. Muscular, golden skin, honey blonde hair, black unforgiving eyes._

_His jaw was set in determination and if Bess Moiva was attention seeking… you wouldn't know. Denwood captured everyone's attention._

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><p>I was so scared of him. We were the same age, but Denwood was terrifying because- well, he was from 2 for starters, and there was something about him that reminded me of Cato, last year's victor, inevitably from District 2.<p>

Cato was blonde, beautiful and unforgivingly brutal. His weapon of choice, sword. His victim, every single tribute. This boy was the first to break the Career pack bonds in over 50 years of the games.

And by the time he was finished with his 'friends', his clothes were so blood-soaked they had to strip him naked before allowing him access to the victor helicopter, just through fear of the lavishly expensive (and utterly replaceable) carpet getting ruined.

All because he dripped blood that wasn't his own.

I was afraid that Denwood would be a happy reminder of last year's events.

Cato showed no mercy. How could I expect and different from any other Career?

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><p><em>Denwood and Bess faced each other and shook hands.<em>

_Gale and I faced each other and shook heads._

_'Don't let one of those two kill me, Katniss. Promise?'_

_I thought about it for a second, before I replied, 'Promise, Gale.'_

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><p>Now I think about how dumb I've been. How ridiculous and childish.<p>

Because I didn't let one of those two kill Gale.

I let someone else kill Gale.

The angry chatter between the three cut out suddenly and I held my breath. Had they seen me? Is this… is this it?

But- they were gone.

The voices didn't return.

They had retreated…

I was safe.

For now.

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><p><strong>Yayayayayaayyyyy! If you have any thoughts, comments, questions or criticisms feel free to review!<strong>

**And don't forget to follow this story!**

**And if you liked this, check out my other Hunger Games story, it's a one-shot all from Peeta's POV, all about his anger towards Katniss for being used.  
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**Cheers guys!**

**Megs xxx**


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